13 Young People

Around nine in ten households (92 per cent) with young children
have access to some

form of play areas within their neighbourhood. Around two thirds
have access to a park

(65 per cent), whilst over half have access to either a
playground (56 per cent) or field

or other open space (53 per cent).

Generally, households with young children within rural areas are
more likely to say

children would be very safe or fairly safe when walking or
cycling to play areas on their

own – the largest difference is 23 percentage points for
being safe walking or cycling to parks when compared to urban areas
(74 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively).

The average age that most householders with young children felt
comfortable with

children playing without supervision at such play areas was
around 9 or 10 years old.

Around three-quarters (76 per cent) of young people aged 8 to 21
take part in some form of activity regularly, with taking part in a
sports or sporting activity being the most common activity (53 per
cent of young people).

These findings from 2016 are similar to the findings in 2014
when these questions were

last included in the Scottish Household Survey.

13.1 Introduction and Context

This chapter starts with an overview of the types of play areas
available for children to play in, followed by the measures on
perceptions of adults on how safe it is for children to play there.
Finally, this chapter looks at the types of activities young people
engage in within their local area.

Data from these variables are collected every two years and were
last presented in the Scotland’s People Annual Report:
Results from 2014 Scottish Household Survey
[82].

A key element of the Early Years Framework is improving the
physical and social environment for children, with an emphasis on
play. At the start of 2009, a series of questions on the
opportunities for children to play in their neighbourhood were
added to the Scottish Household Survey to measure progress on this
framework. From 2012, the set of questions were only asked if there
was a child aged 6 to 12 years in the household.

13.2 Opportunities for Children to Play

Just over nine in ten households with children aged 6 to 12
years old have access to play areas within their
neighbourhood.

Households within the 20 per cent most deprived urban areas
of Scotland say they have less access to a natural environment or
wooded area in their neighbourhood, compared to the rest of urban
areas.

Children in rural areas have more access to fields, natural
environments and woods whereas those in urban areas have more
access to parks.

Overall opportunities for Children to Play

Table 13.1 shows that just over nine in
ten households with children aged 6 to 12 years old have access to
play areas within their neighbourhood (92 per cent). Around
two-thirds (65 per cent) have access to a park, and over half can
access a playground and a field or other open space (56 per cent
and 53 per cent, respectively).

Differences in playing opportunities based on the level
of deprivation

There are some differences based on the level of deprivation in
urban areas. In particular, of those households within the 20 per
cent most deprived urban areas of Scotland, only a third (36 per
cent) say there is a natural environment or wooded area in their
neighbourhood, compared to half of households (50 per cent) in the
rest of the urban areas of Scotland.

Variation in access to play areas for children between
urban to rural areas

There is evidence of greater variation in access to play areas
for children when comparing urban to rural areas. As expected, a
higher proportion of households in rural areas have access to
either fields or other open space (62 per cent) or natural
environment / wooded areas (72 per cent) than urban areas (51 per
cent and 46 per cent respectively). Conversely, a higher proportion
of households in urban areas have access to a park (67 per cent) in
comparison to rural areas (55 per cent). These findings are very
similar to the findings from 2014 when these questions were last
asked in the Scottish Household Survey
[83].

Table 13.1: Types of children play areas available in the
neighbourhood by Urban Rural Classification and Scottish Index of
Multiple Deprivation (
SIMD)Percentages, 2016 data

Households containing children
aged 6 to 12

Urban

Rural

Scotland

20% Most Deprived

Rest of Urban

All Urban

Playground

52

59

57

52

56

Park

64

68

67

55

65

Football or other games pitch

42

48

46

43

46

Field or other open space

46

54

51

62

53

School playground

35

45

42

39

42

Natural environment / wooded

36

50

46

72

50

Access to at least one play area

91

92

91

94

92

Access to none

9

8

8

6

8

Base (minimum)

280

800

1,080

290

1,370

Columns may add to more than 100 per cent since multiple
responses were allowed.

Children’s safety

Most consider that 9 or 10 years old is the youngest age that
children are able to play without supervision.

Children are perceived to be safer in rural areas.

The overall feeling of safety for playgrounds, parks and
football or other games pitches are higher when going with two or
three friends than they are when children travel alone.

Those from rural areas are less concerned about bullying by
other children compared to those from urban areas.

Households in the 20 per cent most deprived urban areas of
Scotland are more concerned about bullying by other children
compared to other urban areas.

Generally, households within rural areas are more likely to say
children would be very or fairly safe when walking or cycling to
play areas on their own compared to urban areas (
Table 13.2). The largest difference of 23
percentage points is for walking or cycling to parks (74 per cent
in rural areas compared to 51 per cent in urban areas).

Table 13.2: Percentage of households that think it is very
or fairly safe for children to walk or cycle to play areas on their
own by Urban Rural Classification and Scottish Index of Multiple
Deprivation (
SIMD)Percentages, 2016 data

Households containing children
aged 6 to 12

Urban

Rural

Scotland

20% Most Deprived

Rest of Urban

All Urban

Playground

48

60

57

73

59

Park

41

55

51

74

55

Football or other games pitch

48

53

52

67

54

Field or other open space

45

56

53

69

57

School playground

53

53

53

67

55

Natural environment / wooded

28

36

34

53

39

Street/Road

48

57

54

63

56

Base (minimum)

100

350

450

120

570

Columns may add to more than 100 per cent since multiple
responses were allowed.

Table 13.3 shows similar patterns of
variation when considering how safe it would be for children to go
to play areas with two or three friends to play. Again, those in
rural areas are generally more likely to say they think it is very
or fairly safe than those living in urban areas, (except for in the
Street/Road where there was no significant difference).
Intuitively, the overall feeling of safety for playgrounds, parks
and football or other games pitches is higher when going with two
or three friends than they are when children travel alone (compare
with
Table 13.2).

Table 13.3: Percentage of households that think it is very
or fairly safe for children to go to play areas with 2 or 3 friends
by Urban Rural Classification and Scottish Index of Multiple
Deprivation (
SIMD)Percentages, 2016 data

Households containing children
aged 6 to 12

Urban

Rural

Scotland

20% Most Deprived

Rest of Urban

All Urban

Playground

59

66

64

78

66

Park

52

60

58

78

61

Football or other games pitch

58

60

59

70

61

Field or other open space

52

62

59

73

62

School playground

58

60

59

68

61

Natural environment / wooded

30

43

40

57

44

Street/Road

50

58

56

63

57

Base (minimum)

100

350

450

120

570

Columns may add to more than 100 per cent since multiple
responses were allowed.

At the national level, the percentage of households being
concerned about children being bullied or harmed by other children
while playing in play areas varied from 26 per cent for streets
around the respondents home, to 40 per cent for playing within a
natural environment or wooded area (
Table 13.4).

There are also differences when comparing different levels of
rurality and deprivation. Those from rural areas are less concerned
about bullying by other children compared to those from urban areas
across all types of play areas (differences range from 12 to 22
percentage points). Households in the 20 per cent most deprived
urban areas of Scotland are more concerned about bullying by other
children compared to other urban areas (although there was no
significant difference in the Field or Open space, School
playground, and Natural environment/wooded play areas).

Table 13.4: Percentage of households who are very or fairly
concerned of bullying by children in play areas by Urban Rural
Classification and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (
SIMD)Percentages, 2016 data

Households containing children
aged 6 to 12

Urban

Rural

Scotland

20% Most Deprived

Rest of Urban

All Urban

Playground

53

34

39

27

37

Park

49

37

40

28

38

Football or other games pitch

49

37

40

27

38

Field or other open space

44

37

39

23

35

School playground

46

36

38

16

35

Natural environment / wooded

54

42

45

25

40

Street/Road

37

24

28

15

26

Base (minimum)

100

350

450

120

570

Columns may add to more than 100 per cent since multiple
responses were allowed.

There is a similar level of concern amongst householders of
children being harmed by adults whilst playing in play areas (
Table 13.5). The greatest concern of
safety nationally is related to those playing within a natural
environment or wooded area (48 per cent). Households in urban areas
are much more likely to be concerned about the safety of children
being harmed by adults across all play areas than households in
rural areas (ranging from 10 to 23 percentage points lower in rural
areas, but there was no significant difference for Football or
other games pitch).

Table 13.5: Percentage of households who are very or
fairly concerned of children being harmed by adults in play areas
by Urban Rural Classification and Scottish Index of Multiple
Deprivation (
SIMD)Percentages, 2016 data

Households containing children
aged 6 to 12

Urban

Rural

Scotland

20% Most Deprived

Rest of Urban

All Urban

Playground

53

32

37

27

36

Park

52

35

40

24

37

Football or other games pitch

47

35

38

28

36

Field or other open space

47

39

41

21

37

School playground

43

32

34

17

32

Natural environment / wooded

61

52

54

31

48

Street/Road

37

27

30

17

28

Base (minimum)

100

350

450

120

570

Columns may add to more than 100 per cent since multiple
responses were allowed.

Table 13.6 shows the average youngest age
that households consider it would be safe for a child to play in
each of the different play areas without supervision. Most would
feel comfortable with children being aged around 9 or 10 years old
to play without supervision at such play areas.

Table 13.6: Youngest mean age at which it is considered
it would be safe for a child to play without supervision by
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and Urban Rural
Classification (
SIMD)Percentages, 2016 data

Households containing children
aged 6 to 12

Urban

Rural

Scotland

20% Most Deprived

Rest of Urban

All Urban

Playground

10

10

10

9

10

Park

10

10

10

9

10

Football or other games pitch

10

10

10

9

10

Field or other open space

10

10

10

9

10

School playground

10

10

10

9

10

Natural environment / wooded

11

11

11

10

11

Street/Road

9

9

9

8

9

Base (minimum)

100

350

450

110

570

Mean age presented

13.3 Participation in Activities

Taking part in a sports or sporting activity, whether played
competitively or not, is the most common activity among young
people.

Young people in rural areas are more likely to take part in
activities compared to those in urban areas.

In the 20 per cent most deprived areas less young people take
part in activities than in other urban areas.

Households with someone aged between 8 and 21 years old are
asked a series of questions within the
SHS on whether
they take part in a series of activities regularly. A fuller
description of the activities is provided in
Annex 2: Glossary.

Table 13.7 shows that taking part in a
sports or sporting activity, whether played competitively or not,
is the most common activity among young people (53 per cent). Young
people in rural areas are more likely to take part in activities
(82 per cent) compared to those in urban areas (74 per cent). In
the 20 per cent most deprived urban areas, two thirds of young
people (68 per cent) take part in activities which is lower than
the three quarters of young people (77 per cent) in other urban
areas.

Table 13.7: Activities young people aged 8 to 21 take part
in by Urban Rural Classification and Scottish Index of Multiple
Deprivation (
SIMD)Percentages, 2016 data

Households containing anyone
aged 8 to 21

Urban

Rural

Scotland

20% Most Deprived

Rest of Urban

All Urban

Music or drama activities

18

28

25

31

26

Other arts activities

7

8

8

8

8

Sports or sporting activities

44

55

52

54

53

Other outdoor activities

16

20

19

29

21

Other groups or clubs

16

21

20

28

21

Representing young people's views

2

3

3

5

3

Mentoring or peer education

3

4

4

6

4

None

32

23

26

18

24

Base (minimum)

460

1,360

1,820

470

2,290

Columns may add to more than 100 per cent since multiple
responses were allowed.

Conclusion

This chapter has summarised Scottish Household Survey findings
on young people. The findings show that most young children have
access to play areas; but there are differences in the availability
of different types of play areas for different levels of
deprivation within urban areas, and between urban and rural areas.
The findings also show that the majority of households perceive
that children are both safe in, and travelling to, most play areas;
apart from natural environment or wooded areas. However, a slim
majority of households in the 20 per cent most deprived urban areas
don’t think it is safe for children to travel alone to most
play areas, and the percentage of households in this group that
perceive that children are safe from harm is lower than the
percentage of households from other urban areas and rural areas.
The majority of young people take part in some form of activity,
irrespective of the level of deprivation or between urban or rural
areas.